Plague take it!
by TyMatthews
Summary: One can not remember the past lives when one drinks from the river Lethe, but in special circumstances. What is love in a world twisted by immortality, power and hormones. Does love exist? Even for the ones who inspire love, though not in ones they want? Is the past to be buried or to be dealt with? What can be forgiven? Why should we forget?


Their death came hand in hand so they walked so into the Underworld. One looking straight ahead and the other eyes fixed solely on one, the Apollo still permitting the hand holding. All else was blur. The awe and love soared in the other's chest and not a thought was given to the realm of death until the screams from Cocytus the river of Wailing connected to Acheron the river of Pain shook the other out of the rigor mortis. In shock he stopped and realised there was after-life.

Furthermore an ancient Greek one! Looking forward he saw endless streams of waters side by side, countlessly. They were standing on a platform or sort of a bridge crossing over everything.

Each river had their own little platform with little boats waiting for passengers. Each boat was supplied with a designated driver, persons all very shy of their faces. All in all the whole thing reminded a giant comb from a head invested in lice. It was very clear they were not upon Earth, it was no sky above them, no stars, no sun, a mere blurred dark abyss. Though it'd have to be measured to be sure.

He smirked at the thought and glanced at the man beside him, ready to annoy him with ridiculous notions of jumping and being sucked in, yet he was gone. "NO!" The shout at first stirring an echo but suddenly muffled and the silence was deafening. It was hard to say whether it was as quiet as it was before.

Furthermore a mist had risen and it was hard to see. Quickly he ran past the rivers of Atë, Eros, Harmonia and Charites. He ran as fast as he could yet not fast enough to ever see that blond head, nor to hear the steps of those boots. The sound of which was the best music, until you heard that mouth speak. If only he had known this was what waited him in death… His happiness by his side only to be lost due to his bad sportsmanship. Though had he known he would have undoubtedly not taken such nonsense as other than a great jest.

In the end he stopped at the 'twixt of a river directed by Limos, goddess of starvation and one created by Lethe, the goddess of forgetfulness the river of Ameles Potamos. Weak at his knees he could not carry on. Scarce of breath he tried to choke out the name of the one he looks for. "E-A-Angel!" That is not the name, yet not many fucks were given. All merriment gone from his essence, and he falls to his knees "Angel! You ass! Where are you?" He felt like crying. However he no longer knew what to cry for. All felt lost.

"Hold!" A voice from behind him said. A lady with long strides cut through the mist with her toga's hem slapping around like a hand giving admonitions to the mist still hanging around her. "Hold my silly daughter! You are still holding his hand." True to her word the feeling of a hand was still there yet no sight of any. Startled he almost let go. Yet now squeezed harder, and he could feel an absent thumb rubbing his fingers absent-mindedly. "How?"

However the regal looking lady, with thick dark curling hair, chose not to answer the how Angel would not let go and even chose to show signs of tender caring, "Although you died at the same time and by same faith, you led different lives, you are not of one soul. Each must trek alone. Only with what they had with when their souls left the mortal bodies. But come. Your place is not by this river until we have your development discussion". She hold out her hand "Come my daughter to my office", almost taking it he hesitated "Daughter?! You must be kidding me, can't you see I am a man?". She burst out laughing, still holding out a hand with other covering her chest, guffawing shaking her torso, as if it had been the best joke she had heard for a long while.

At her merriness he took her hand in his. Somehow it was like home. "No matter how the children grow they'll always be one's children", She finally said wiping her tears with a tender smile. "I did miss all of you, you know. Yet I did not miss your deaths." Suddenly they were in a office, a modern looking one. Everything looked brand new 1830's office and shocked he let go of her hand.

"Are-Are you my mummy?"

"Yes, yes, you silly little boy. I swear this life has ruined something up here for you." She knocked on the head of him and the table at the same time. "Ow, ooh, very funny."

"Now sit, and-" shuffling through her toga folds "I am not supposed to but… ah, here" she pulled out a flask and his eyes begun to shine at the sight "take a sip". He did.

With each gulp, and each slosh against his mouth, he remembered. "I am- and he really was Apollo! Also my little joke! We were all sisters! The Muses! Unbelievable!" He laughed in joy, his little obsession with myths had been fun and his idle musings of Apollo and Muses justified and the truth.

Just as Mnemosyne was about to take the flask away from Erato, Mnemosyne's daughter and now son, decided in his heart something still was missing and greedily gulped more water from his mother's river of the flask.

"No! You'll surely regret it!" Near the bottom did Erato stop where trauma was changing to forgettable routines Erato was furious, standing up and talking with his hands, he never missed a beat. "How dare he! How dares he! How? How dare they? To play with our lives or to remain the order. This seems the same. The same cruelty!"

"I told you-"

"Don't you dare! You! Playing along with them, hiding and revealing things at will. Men or gods, I don't care. Idiots with penises and no one ever cutting them off, cutting off power. Never performing any justice! He, he, he-Apollo who swears upon it is one hypocrite!"

"You don't know anything-"

"I know enough!"

"You love him."

"Wha- How can you? It-It has nothing to do with this. He forced himself on women and destroyed them if they refused. You who were raped too, sit here in a office filled with trinkets yet no sympathy. Love! Ha! Love has no part. Love from a play the fat arsed gods orchestrated has no part in this, other than their cruelty and no mercy for women."

"I told you'd regret it-"

"No, I don't. Don't you understand!? Truth! Truth! Truth should never be hidden. Justice has been a big ugly joke to the gods."

"Times are changing."

"How!? How? Yet still rapists are condoned. Yet still they are sympathised with. Look at yourself. Stories of raping are considered love stories! How are they changing? How is there any hope with an institution like this? You dare to talk to me of love? To me? When the name of love is dirtied and twisted."

"Yet you still hold his hand."

Angrily he let go only to be held tighter by Apollo. He tried to shake it off, but his hand was trapped. "Stubborn as ever with his ladies." Erato started to pry the fingers away with his other hand, but other hand of Apollo came too and took hold of it.

"Ladies?" Mnemosyne queried. "Are you sure?"

"Well I am a he and he does despise me. Oh god damn it. Let go you fucker!" He shouted at his hands that at the moment looked like from some position of the snake style martial arts, hands crossing at a point. He desperately tried to shake them and hit them together. Yet all that fucker's hands did do was steady their grip and tried to nod some calm into the other pair. "Why- why! Why!? Why is this happening? This is a nightmare!"

"I really can't see what the problem is. If you would sit down and talk with a levelled voice."

"You may sit down first!" Erato snapped.

"It's funny how I am always shocked how opinionated you are. Thought it'd have tempered with your last life."

"Opinionated? Is that supposed to be an insult. Also I am not "opinionated". It is called sense."

"Nonsense. You are not seeing sense when I am painting it in-front of you with big bright letters."

"I always forget how ridiculous you are with reasoning. It is sense I am talking about, sense of justice and rights." Erato punctuated each important point with his hands which gave a strange wave element to them by the heaviness of Apollo's hands. Sighing with this reminder and feeling the adrenaline escaping without his permission he flopped to the chair opposite of his mother's behind a massive desk.

"So shall we get over with this…" waving a hand in air "performance appraisal. Has my performance been to the liking of all mighty full gods and goddesses?"

"Well, no. There is the issue of your drinking."

"Oh bloody should have guessed. Biggest drinkers can't look into a mirror."

"Stop it! Why are you like this? Why are you ruining this moment where I get to see my daughter before she goes back to a mortal coil? Why do you have to be so selfish all the time?" Mnemosyne bursted into tears.

"I am -" She sobbed. "-just -trying to h-h-h-help y-you!"

Oh no. Erato thought, why does she have to cry? Feeling the guilt that shouldn't be there for he knew he was right. Yet to upset someone to tears for being on the side of the abased and miserable? The righteous side. He never wanted that. In his latest life he avoided all and any conviction.

"Help me? Help me? You are talking about taking away my free will! People have the right to drink when they want as long as they are not hurting others. Also I have no say in this mortal coil thing and my-"

"Oh who is the hypocrite now!" Suddenly the tears were gone from the eyes of his mother and filled with gibe. "You talk of rights, yet you are so ready to deny others'!"

"What rights?! For rapes and suppressing men and women?!"

"Rapes and surpressitngssn" Mnemosyne imitated Erato poorly with chest puffing out and flailing hands importantly. "Come off your high horse!"

"What?! WHAT? you- DRINKING is not comparable with a rape! Come off. I don't want to talk about this any more. Can't I just go and live a very very long life fighting idiots like and not see your face for lets say hundred years?"

"You insolent little twit. Talking to your mother like that. You! Trying to live long! Or successfully! With all that alcohol around." She snapped, but after adapting an all business attitude she continued, "Anyway we have thought of both parents alive and drinking this time for you and unemployed. The parents I mean, but the probability of you ending up so too is high. Strangely the odds are higher for you to be sober at the world we are sending you to if you are male son of drunks, but do to certain …issues…"

"Yes?"

"You are going as female."

"All right. Can I go now? Please."

"This doesn't upset you?"

"No… Why would it?" Or dare I ask, thought Erato. This was all very tiring and all he wanted was some alone time, trying to sort all his memories before they'd be ripped away from him again. Also deciding what to do with these hands in his…

"Well, we figured something must have happened to you when you were a woman."

"Oh really?"

"Yes. Well did it?"

"No. Nothing else but the typical suppression of females that men and women in kind practise. You? Did something happen to you when you were still sane?"

"No, nothing! What are you-"

"My mistake, or is it just one more lie? Could it be your life means nothing at all? Perhaps you should try dying. Oh, look at the time." He stood up to make his way out of the office. Oh, he knows the way out, if the place hasn't been too much renovated. Hopefully. Mere thought of another moment with a heartless immortal was enough for him to run to his next death. The next life.

Mnemosyne calmly sat by her table again. "She is always like that. Running away from conflict and talking things through." She tried to take her pen and write something on the books, but her hand was shaking. "What is the matter with me? I have not changed. I have always had my wits together. Why am I so apparently upset? Shake it off, shake it off. Silly little thing. Silly… mortal thing." Yet she could not calm down. "That stupid little bitch. What does she know." She threw the pen on the table and rushed to stand and pace the floor.

"Death. Death. Death.

There it comes again.

Offered to me like a noble prize

Yet again.

Never. Not now, not then.

Oh where could I hide its eyes.

Better at sneaking in than a rat

More common than a lost hat.

Yet I will not loose my breath.

You hear that death?

Death?

Death?

Am I all alone? Has it forgotten me?

Has everyone but me done it?

What good would it be?

Look at me.

I am fit.

There goes one more

Spitting my way

Eager to start anew

and step through

the door

Is it so wrong to stay!

I will, I will

Till my dying day.

Wait. Nay.

But For forever more

I will stay."

Finally she sat down and took the pen again "I will stay" she said calmly. However the inkwell she took as well and threw against a wall yelling "I will stay".


End file.
